


He Was Loved

by StrangeMischief



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2020-10-26 10:24:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20740691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeMischief/pseuds/StrangeMischief
Summary: “I love you,” Stephen choked in a hushed voice, tears streaming down his cheeks.





	He Was Loved

**Author's Note:**

> As always, enjoy :3

_ He Was Loved _

Stephen had made his choice. He called Tony. It was selfish and cruel, but he’d like to think that he’d earned, _deserved, _this moment of self-indulgence. Hopefully, Tony would understand that, and forgive him for it.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something right now, babe.”

Stephen smiled at the sound of Tony’s voice despite his tense tone. “I know, Tony,” he sighed, clenching his eyes tighter. It was harder than he’d imagined, but he’d made his decision, and it was too late to change his mind now. “I’m sorry. I just had to tell you-”

“DUM-E!” Tony huffed, a resounding _clang _sounding from the background. “Just hold on, Stephen, something’s gone wrong.”

Stephen couldn’t help but laugh, his seated form quivering violently in a combination of mirth and feeling cold. “Yes, yes, I imagine you’re right.”

There was a shuffle on the other end of the line and some half-hearted threats made towards DUM-E before Tony’s warm voice returned to Stephen’s ear. “Alright, I’m back. What did you need?”

“I have to tell you-I…I can’t be at the Sanctum to let Peter in tonig-”

Something that sounded suspiciously like a wrench being thrown on a table rung sharply through the phone’s speaker. Stephen flinched at the sound, knocking his head back against the alley wall behind him.

“I’ve already postponed this evening’s meeting three times, Stephen!” Tony snapped. “And you _know _May’s already left for the weekend! I can’t believe you’re doing this! We agreed days ago that you’d let Peter sta-”

“_I know what I said!_” Stephen hissed back. The hand not holding the phone to his ear clenching tighter at his side, the sticky material of his drenched robes squishing between trembling fingers. “Things have changed. I need-I need you to get him. Keep him with you. He should be with you.”

“Will you at least text the kid and tell him yourself?” Tony asked, irritated. “Or do _I_ have to tell him you’re backing out?”

Stephen winced at the image Tony’s words painted in his mind. Peter was still so young and naive. It was unfair to do this to him. It was unfair to leave Tony to tell him what’d happened. “I don’t have time,” Stephen whispered, silently praying Tony wouldn’t argue further. “I would. I _wish _I could, but I don’t have time. I’m sorry. Tell him I’m sorry.”

Tony sighed, and the other end of the line went eerily silent. Had it not been for the gentle hum of Tony’s breath brushing filtering through the speaker, Stephen would have thought the man had angrily hung up on him.

The thought hurt more than the searing pain in his side.

“Tony?” Stephen whispered into the phone. His voice sounding a bit too frail and breathless for his liking, but Stephen couldn’t find the strength to force more strength into his words. His thoughts were becoming too hazed, his arms too tired, his eyes too droopy. There wasn’t much longer left.

“Yeah, Stephen?”

It was the end. Stephen shifted a quivering hand from his side and shoved his fist into his mouth, ignoring the sour tang that filled his mouth before his teeth even sunk down into the tender flesh of his hands. He couldn’t break. Not now. Not yet. “I love you,” Stephen choked in a hushed voice, tears streaming down his cheeks.

There was another sigh, but this one was different. Stephen knew that sigh. It followed the first sip of warm, morning brew. It came the moment sleep-deprived bodies finally hit the mattress after a three-day mission. It accompanied the lacing of two hands, together at last after a long day apart. It was a sigh that said Tony was content. That he was happy. That he was smiling, more likely than not.

It was a sigh that said Tony knew he was loved.

And that was all Stephen needed before he let go.

The phone fell from long fingers and hit the blood-stained ground with a sickeningly wet _splat, _a scarred hand slipped from where it had weakly covered a gaping stomach wound still glinting darkly with residual magic, and, “_I love you too, Stephen,”_ was carried away by the wind.


End file.
